Wenger labels Premier League the ‘world championship of managers’

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger feels the Premier League is more competitive than ever due to the presence of the best managers in the world, but is adamant it is still the players that make the difference.

Chelsea brought in Antonio Conte as their new man in charge, Manchester City secured the services of Pep Guardiola, while Jose Mourinho replaced Louis van Gaal as Manchester United boss, with Jurgen Klopp having joined Liverpool last term.

That means Wenger could face a tougher challenge than ever to improve on Arsenal’s second-place finish in 2015-16, as the Gunners attempt to win the title for the first time since 2004.

“Everybody’s ambitious, never has the Premier League been gifted with so many ambitious people or clubs at the start of the season,” Wenger told Arsenal Player.

“We have Mourinho at Manchester United, Conte at Chelsea, Guardiola at Man City, Klopp at Liverpool, so it’s a little bit a world championship of managers as well.

“Everybody will of course be highly focused on doing well and it will be interesting. One thing you know from the start – not everybody can win the championship and next year, more than ever, it will be tougher for everybody.

“But sometimes the media give too much importance to the managers and I believe that what is important is the quality of the players on the pitch.

“All English teams compete highly to be competitive and have a top squad.”